1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pointing device including a pointer (pointing needle) for indicating numeric characters etc. of a character plate of instruments and the like, and a meter apparatus provided with the pointing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
This kind of meter apparatus mounted in a vehicle etc. is generally constructed so as to illuminate a character plate provided with characters, numeric characters, a scale, etc. or illuminate a pointer for indicating the characters, the numeric characters, etc. of the character plate from the back side by a dedicated light source etc. As such a meter apparatus, for example, apparatuses described in JP-A-2004-125413 and WO/2008/063633 are known.
As shown in FIG. 11, a meter apparatus 100 described in JP-A-2004-125413 is configured to include a driving device 102 formed with a rotary shaft 101 extending forward, a display plate 105 which is arranged in the front of this driving device 102 and has a shaft hole 104 corresponding to the rotary shaft 101, a pointer 106 which is joined to the rotary shaft 101 through a joint 108 and a cylindrical pointing shaft 107 formed of a transparent material and rotates and moves on the display plate 105, a light source 111 which is arranged in the rear of the pointer 106 and illuminates the pointer 106, and a cap 109 for preventing light from the light source 111 from leaking to the outside, for example, the upper direction of the pointer 106.
According to this meter apparatus 100, distortion of an insertion hole 108A of the joint 108 can be suppressed while miniaturizing the light guide portion of the pointer 106. That is, the joint 108 is separately molded of other synthetic resin material and that material is provided with the insertion hole 108A, and this prevents a situation in which distortion due to a sink occurs in a thick-wall shaft part 110 with a large diameter constructing the pointing shaft 107 and the joint 108 and this distortion adversely affects press-in coupling to the rotary shaft 101.
However, in the pointer 106 of this meter apparatus 100, even when light from the light source 111 after the light enters the pointing shaft 107 is prevented from leaking to the outside by the cap 109, a part of the light may leak from a gap 103 between the cap 109 and the display plate 105 in the lower side of the cap 109 to the outside, that is, halation may be caused. When this halation is weak light, the halation is not very noticeable to a visual recognition person, but for intense halation, the halation is unpleasant for the visual recognition person and also strikes the visual recognition person as a reduction in quality of the meter apparatus.
Also, in a meter apparatus 200 described in WO/2008/063633, in addition to a cap 202 attached to a proximal part of a pointer 201 so as to cover the proximal part, an output shaft 204 of a motor 203 is provided with a sleeve 205 having a ring 205A formed of an opaque material as shown in FIG. 12.
In this meter apparatus 200, light from a light source 207 mounted in a substrate 206 is prevented from leaking from the sleeve 205 of the proximal part of the pointer 201 externally fitted into the output shaft 204 of the motor 203 to the outside to cause halation. However, such a meter apparatus still has a small gap between a display plate 208 and the ring 205A, so that a leak of light causing the halation cannot be prevented well.